Local self-government in view of the principle of the separation of powers

Abstract

The text presents the view that the vertical division within the executive power, determined by the principle of decentralisation, is legally instrumental in the face of the fundamental horizontal division of power (resulting from the principle of power sharing) and is not independent and separate from the principle of power sharing. It is worth defining the place of local self-government from the perspective of the division of the executive power, and in reference to the principle of power sharing, because of the importance that these arrangements may have for the concept of multi-level governance in the European Union. The system of the bodies and institutions of the European Union is not based on the principle of the separation of powers, but on institutional division and the vertical and horizontal opening of the legal systems of the Member States to the European legal order. At the same time, the above-mentioned multi-level governance is visible in the creation and implementation of European law. The principle of the separation of powers is, however, properly embedded in this multi-level governance at the level of national law, and within this local self-government is located accordingly.